GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — As people throughout the Philadelphia region do their best to cope with another round of hot, humid, and uncomfortable weather this week, the workers who help keep homes and businesses cool will be out there working in it.
A heat health emergency went into effect in Philadelphia at 8 a.m. Monday. Dangerous conditions are expected as an excessive heat warning continues into Wednesday, with heat indexes potentially reaching past 100 degrees.
Gloucester County's Office of Emergency Management and Gloucester County Emergency Medical Services have issued a few pages of summer safety tips .
For many, it’s as simple as setting the thermostat, turning on the air conditioner and waiting for the house to cool down. But behind the scenes, the workers who make that luxury possible are sweating it out so others won’t have to. It’s no easy job — but they find their own ways to keep their cool.
Chilly’s Heating and Cooling in Gloucester County gets calls year round, but in the summer, employees work long hours and are constantly busy, says owner John Childress Sr.
“The sun is our enemy in this business, it is. It's the most powerful thing we have to deal with,” he says.
Workers often have to go into the hottest parts of homes for service calls, suffering temperatures even higher than those outdoors. He says his team starts preparing for the intense heat the night before by starting to hydrate.
Then, when things heat up the next day?
“Wet towels,” he says.
“We put them on the back of our necks. We go from service call to service call — we allow extra time to get to the next job, because you might need that time to refresh yourself before you come out of the car.”
He has been in the business for more than three decades. His son, John Childress Jr., is following in his footsteps.
John Jr. says they get used to the hot weather after a while. But for him, the key is to find shade, to always carry water, and to keep a positive attitude.
“A lot of times, we work on the equipment that happens to be live. So if you're not thinking correctly, you're a little foggy, you touch something you're not supposed to — bad things are going to happen,” he says. “So you have to keep yourself cool.”
And in the event you need to make a service call for a central air unit on the fritz during a week of extreme heat, a small act of kindness — such as offering a cool drink of water to the responding technician — goes a long, long way, he says.
John Sr. says homeowners can help themselves, too, with some small changes around the house.
When you know a day of brutal temperatures is on the horizon, help your AC unit work a little easier by dropping the inside temperature the night before.
“It's easier to maintain a conditioned space than it is to try to lower the temperature [after it gets hot] in that space,” said John Sr.
And set the temperature to something realistic — especially when we’re in a heat wave.
“If it's going to be 100 out, you're not going to get that 62 degrees inside,” John Sr. said.
And during the hottest part of the day, he advises clients to keep the window blinds shut, turn on a fan in the attic, and avoid using appliances that create heat, such as a clothes dryer or oven, until after the sun goes down.
1. Drop the temperature in your home the night before high outdoor temperatures are expected.
2. Set the temperature to something realistic — especially during a heat wave.
3. During the hottest part of the day, keep the window blinds shut.
4. Turn on a fan in the attic.
5. Avoid using appliances that create heat, such as a clothes dryer or oven.
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